Resources for Counselors
Academic Achievement
Academic Achievement is one of the top priorities for schools in the era of No Child Left Behind and standardized testing and also one of the three domains of the ASCA National Model. School counselors play a critical role within school systems to promote academic achievement for students by supporting their social and emotional learning, advocating for them, creating a welcoming environment, and linking what they are learning to their future plans.
Below you will find links to articles and reports, informational websites, curricula, fact sheets, and recent research .
Articles and Reports
Achieve
Achieve has released the report, Closing the Expectations Gap: 2010, on the progress that states have made in implementing the American Diploma Project which recommends aligning high school policies to meet the demands recent graduates will have in college and careers.
American Psychological Association
The APA released the following article: Teaching Resilience, Sense of Purpose in Schools Can Prevent Depression, Anxiety and Improve Grades, According To Research.
American Youth Policy Forum
The AYPF published Raising Minority Academic Achievement in 2001. Their study looked at school and youth programs across the country that have shown academic achievement in minority students. This report lists their findings and recommendations for school districts.
The Association Between School-Based Physical Activity, Including Physical Education, and Academic Performance
This executive summary details how the Center for Disease Control reviewed 50 studies involving physical activity at school and how it improved academic achievement.
Child Trends
On this site Child Trends, a nonprofit nonpartisan research center, has published the research brief Ten Ways to Promote Educational Achievement and Attainment Beyond the Classroom.
Education World
This site has a counseling section with articles related to academic development.
Finding a Way; Practical Examples of How an Effective Principal-Counselor Relationship Can Lead to Success for All Students
The College Board, the American School Counselor Association, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals published this report that examines how the relationship between principals and counselors affects students.
High Schools that Work
The Southern Regional Education Board has developed 10 key practices that effect student academic achievement.
How Can the Achievement Gap Be Closed? A Freakonomics Quorum
This New York Times article has experts in the field discussing how to close the achievement gap.
IES National Center for Education Statistics
The US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences collected data on high school guidance programs through a survey in 2002. This report shows that 48% of guidance counselors say they emphasize academic achievement above other educational goals.
Improving Academic Achievement: What School Counselors Can Do
This article appeared in ERIC Digest and describes ways school counselors can improve their students’ academic achievement. The publication of this article was funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
National Center for Educational Achievement
The NCEA conducted a study of higher performing schools and reports its findings in its publication Core Practices of Higher Performing Schools.
Problem Solving Model for Improving Student Achievement
The National Association of School Psychologists has written the following article on a problem solving model for helping students in special education make academic achievement.
Informational Websites
Online Schools Guide
Online Schools is a national directory of colleges, universities and technical schools that offer online educational options.
Online Schools in Missouri
This resource is a compilation of every college program offered online in Missouri that is offered full and part time.
Center on Instruction
The Center is a clearing house of information on research based best practices for instruction to improve achievement in schools.
Learning First Alliance
The Learning First Alliance is an organization dedicated to improving student learning. This website is a forum where success stories are shared.
National Education Association
This site is the home for research done by the NEA on the best practices for promoting academic excellence for all students.
The NEA Foundation
This site gives information on how to apply for a NEA Foundation grant to improve the academic achievement of students in public schools and public higher education institutions in any subject area. Education support professionals are eligible to apply.
Curricula
Best Evidence Encyclopedia
Johns Hopkins University has reviewed available programs for evidence that they work. The results are listed on their website.
Indiana Department of Education
This website has guidance lessons that you can download on academic achievement organized by grade level.
Missouri Department of Education
This site has free guidance lesson plans including lessons aimed at academic development.
Promising Practices Network
The Promising Practices Network has screened programs for evidence that they work. The results for the outcome area “Children Succeeding in School” are listed on their website.
Fact Sheets
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Based on data from the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, the CDC has found that high school students who engage in risky heath behaviors have lower academic grades. This site provides facts sheet on how the different risky behaviors affect grades.
The Education Trust
Over 25 publications prepared by the Education Trust about closing the achievement gap are available on this website.
Helping Youth Succeed through Out of School Time Programs
The American Youth Policy Forum did a study on out of school time program and one of their chief findings is that well designed out of school time programs can improve students’ academic achievement.
Minority Student Achievement Network
The MSAN studies achievement gaps that exist for minority students. Based on their findings, the MSAN has recommended practices that will help schools close the achievement gap.
Parent Teacher Association
The PTA has developed guidelines on how to build strong family school partnerships which can improve academic achievement.
Recent Research
CSCORE does not endorse any of the following research studies. Instead our goal is to present you with the latest research being conducted. It is up to you to decide if the study is reliable and valid.
School counselor program choice and self-efficacy: relationship to achievement gap and equity.
By: Nancy Bodenhorn, Edward W Wolfe, and Osaro E Airen.
Professional School Counseling, 2010
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/School+counselor+program+choice+and+self-efficacy%3A+relationship+to...-a0219518279
At-Risk Ninth-Grade Students: A Psychoeducational Group Approach to Increase Study Skills and Grade Point Averages
By: Holly Kayler and Jamie Sherman
Professional School Counseling, 2009
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/At-risk+ninth-grade+students%3A+a+psychoeducational+group+approach+to...-a0206850822
The academic motivation of at-risk students in a counseling prevention program.
By: Michael John Scheel, Soumya Madabhushi, and Autumn Backhaus
The Counseling Psychologist, 2009
http://tcp.sagepub.com/content/37/8/1147.short (fee required)
Closing the Gap: A Group Counseling Approach to Improve Test Performance of African-American Students
By: Angelia M Bruce, Yvette Q Getch, and Jolie Ziomek-Daigle
Professional School Counseling, 2009
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Closing+the+gap%3A+a+group+counseling+approach+to+improve+test...-a0206850824
Evaluating a Small-Group Counseling Program-A Model for Program Planning and Improvement in the Elementary Setting
By: Dee Bostick and Ron Anderson
Professional School Counseling, 2009
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Evaluating+a+small-group+counseling+program--a+model+for+program...-a0206850821
The Brotherhood: Empowering Adolescent African-American Males Toward Excellence
By: Shelby Wyatt
Professional School Counseling, 2009
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+brotherhood%3A+empowering+adolescent+African-American+males+toward...-a0206850826
Supporting Academic Improvement among Eighth Graders at Risk for Retention: An Action Research Intervention
By: E. C. M. Mason and H. George McMahon
RMLE Online, 2009
http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/RMLEOnline/Articles/Vol33No1/tabid/2033/Default.aspx
The multidimensional of school engagement and math achievement among racial groups
By: Daniel T. Sciarra and Holly J. Seirup
Professional School Counseling, 2008
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-178348226.html
Parental Effort, School Resources, and Student Achievement
By: Andrew J. Houtenville and Karen Smith Conway
The Journal Of Human Resources, 2008
http://www.unh.edu/news/docs/Conway_May08.pdf
Increasing prosocial behavior and academic achievement among adolescent African American males
By: Don Martin, Magy Martin, Suzanne Semivan Gibson, and Jonathan Wilkins
Adolescence, 2007
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-7334834/Increasing-prosocial-behavior-and-academic.html
The structure and culture of information pathways: Rethinking opportunity to learn in urban high schools during the ninth grade transition
By: Robert Cooper and Daniel D. Liou
The High School Journal, 2007
http://j.b5z.net/i/u/2135872/i/Cooperarticle.pdf
Early adolescents' aspirations and academic tracking an exploratory investigation.
By: Patrick Akos, Glenn W. Lambie, Amy Milsom, and Kelly Gilbert
Professional School Counseling, 2007
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Early+adolescents'+aspirations+and+academic+tracking+an+exploratory...-a0171018643
Building Skills for School Success: Improving the Academic and Social Competence of Students
By: Greg A. Brigman, Linda D. Webb, and Chari Campbell
Professional School Counseling, 2007
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Building+skills+for+school+success%3A+improving+the+academic+and+social...-a0164719189
Achievement and at-risk middle school students' perspectives of academic support
By: Elisha A. Chambers, Michael Hylen, and James B. Schreiber
Journal of Research in Character Education, 2006
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1269843881.html (Fee Required)
Student Risk Factors Identified By School Counselors and Student Achievement
By: Darren Couillard, Julie Garnett, Angel Hutchins, Mary L. Fawcett, and George Maycock
Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 2006
http://ajer.synergiesprairies.ca/ajer/index.php/ajer/article/viewArticle/581
Peer Exclusion and Victimization: Processes That Mediate the Relation Between Peer Group Rejection and Children’s Classroom Engagement and Achievement?
By: Eric S. Buhs, Gary W. Ladd, and Sarah L. Herald
Journal of Educational Psychology, 2006
http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/edu-9811.pdf
Linking School Counselors and Student Success: A Replication of the Student Success Skills Approach Targeting the Academic and Social Competence of Students.
By: Linda D. Webb, Greg A. Brigman, and Chari Campbell,
Professional School Counseling, 2005
http://www.studentsuccessskills.com/Webb,%20Brigman,%20and%20Campbell%2005.pdf
Helping Students Improve Academic Achievement and School Success Behavior
By: Greg BrigmanandChari Campbell
Professional School Counseling, 2003
http://www.schoolcounselor.org/files/7-2-91%20Brigman.pdf